Paid family and medical leave program. Requiresthe Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer apaid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January1, 2024. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employeesfor family and medical leave. Funding for the program is providedthrough premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in2023. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's averageweekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changesin the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps the durationof paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The bill provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program.
Sponsored bills
2021 Senate operating resolution.
Juvenile community correctional centers andfacilities; establishment; placement of juveniles. Changes theterm "juvenile correctional centers and facilities" to "juvenile community correctional centers and facilities." The bill furtherprovides that any juvenile community correctional center establishedafter July 1, 2020, shall (i) be located within a locality in whichat least five percent of all juvenile commitments occur statewide,using an average of the rate of commitments of the three most recentconsecutive years, and (ii) be designed to confine 30 juveniles orfewer. The bill also states that the Department of Juvenile Justiceshall place children at the juvenile community correctional centerlocated closest to their primary residence and within one hour ofsuch residence via motor vehicle and within one and one-half hoursof such residence via public transportation. If such placement isnot available, the Department shall use an alternative placementthat is closest to the juvenile's primary residence, such as a localjuvenile detention center. Under current law, the Department may place such children at such facilities as are available.
Constitutional amendment (first resolution);qualifications of voters and the right to vote. Establishes thatthe only qualifications to vote in the Commonwealth are United States citizenship, being at least 18 years of age, residency in the Commonwealth,and registration to vote in accordance with the requirements setout in the Constitution of Virginia. The amendment further providesthat any person who meets those qualifications has the right to voteand that such right cannot be abridged by law. The bill removes fromcurrent constitutional qualifications to vote not having been convictedof a felony and not having been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent.
Petition for vacatur and expungement of convictionsand police and court records of victims of human trafficking.Allows any person who was a victim of human trafficking at the timeof an offense that led to a criminal charge or conviction of certaincrimes to petition the court to vacate such conviction and expunge the police and court records related to such conviction or to expungethe police and court records related to such charge. The bill providesthat there is a rebuttable presumption that a person's participationin an offense was a result of having been a victim of human traffickingif there is official documentation, defined in the bill, of the petitioner'sstatus as a victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense.
State Health Commissioner; local health director; additional degrees; variance. Requires that, in addition toexisting qualifications, the State Health Commissioner possess aDoctor of Public Health degree, a Master of Public Health degree,or a doctorate in the area of public health. The bill allows localhealth directors to possess a Doctor of Public Health degree, a Masterof Public Health degree, or a doctorate in the area of public healthas an alternative to the current requirement that each local health director be a physician licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth. The bill states that the Commissioner may grant a variance to a statelaw or regulation of the State Board of Health when the Commissionerdetermines that, upon review of an application from a county, cityor town, the applicant for such variance has demonstrated that theimplementation of a regulation would impose a substantial financialor programmatic hardship and the variance would not adversely affectthe safety and well-being of residents of the county, city, or townor the Commonwealth.
State plan for medical assistance; doulas. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for the payment of medical assistance for antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum services provided to a pregnant person by a doula, including services for labor and delivery support and at least four visits during the antenatal period and seven visits during the postpartum period. The bill also directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to conduct a rate study to determine appropriate reimbursement rates for doula services provided to Medicaid recipients and to report its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2020.
Reproductive health services. Requireshealth benefit plans to cover the costs of specified health care services, drugs, devices, products, and procedures related to reproductive health. The health benefit plan requirements become effective whena plan is delivered, issued for delivery, reissued, or extended inthe Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2021, or at any time thereafterwhen any term of the health benefit plan is changed or any premiumadjustment is made. The measure also requires the Board of MedicalAssistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistanceservices a provision for the payment of the costs of a reproductivehealth care program providing reimbursement for medically necessary reproductive health care services, drugs, devices, products, andprocedures for eligible individuals.
Consumer lending. Replaces references to payday loans with the term "short-term loans." The measure caps the interest and fees that may be charged under a short-term loan at an annual rate of 36 percent, plus a maintenance fee; increases the maximum amount of such loans from $500 to $2,500; and sets the duration of such loans at a minimum of four months, subject to exceptions, and a maximum of 24 months. Short-term loan licensees are required to make a reasonable attempt to verify a borrower's income and may not collect fees and charges that exceed 50 percent of the original loan amount if such amount is equal to or less than $1,500 and 60 percent of the original loan amount if such amount is greater than $1,500. The measure amends the requirements for motor vehicle title loans, including requiring licensed lenders to use a database to determine a prospective borrower's eligibility for a loan and prohibiting loans to a borrower who has an outstanding short-term loan. The measure sets a 36-percent annual interest rate cap on open-end credit plans and allows a $50 annual participation fee. A violation of these provisions is made a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The measure amends provisions of the Consumer Finance Act to, among other things, allow licensed lenders to use the services of access partners and establish requirements that loans be between $300 and $35,000; be repayable in substantially equal installment payments; have a term of no fewer than six and no more than 120 months; charge not more than 36 percent annual interest and a loan processing fee; and require licensees to post a bond. The measure prohibits credit service businesses from advertising, offering, or performing other services in connection with an extension of credit that has an annual interest rate exceeding 36 percent, is for less than $5,000, has a term of less than one year, or is provided under an open-end credit plan. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021, and requires any person who would be required to be licensed under the provisions of the act to apply for a license by October 1, 2020. This bill is identical to HB 789.
Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder; law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that post-traumatic stress disorder incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter is compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act if a mental health professional examines a law-enforcement officer or firefighter and diagnoses the individual as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the individual's undergoing a qualifying event, which includes an event occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, in which a law-enforcement officer or firefighter views a deceased minor, witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death of a person, witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies, has physical contact with and treats an injured person who subsequently dies, transports an injured person who subsequently dies, or witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent disfigurement of the victim. Other conditions for compensability include (i) if the post-traumatic stress disorder resulted from the law-enforcement officer or firefighter acting in the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefighter complied with certain federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards; (ii) if the law-enforcement officer's or firefighter's undergoing a qualifying event was a substantial factor in causing his post-traumatic stress disorder; (iii) if such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, was the primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder; and (iv) if the post-traumatic stress disorder did not result from any disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination, retirement, or similar action of the officer or firefighter. The measure establishes procedural requirements on employers that contest a claim for such benefits. The measure also establishes requirements for resilience and self-care technique training.